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Freak out at sea on a zombie-themed cruise

"The Walking Dead" stars headline an oddball cruise to the Bahamas involving zombie makeovers and costume contests.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
2 min read

Walking Dead zombie
You won't have to deal with this out at sea. AMC's "The Walking Dead"/Video screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET

The zombie apocalypse has arrived. You can either be stuck on land with undead hordes scrabbling at your door, or you can be safely out at sea in an uncontaminated ship fishing for your supper at a safe distance. If you're inclined to head toward water, then maybe you should check out the Walker Stalker Cruise, a three-day celebration of brain-hungry animated corpses.

The voyage is scheduled for January 15-18, 2016. It travels from Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas, because nothing says "Zombies!" like piña coladas on a cruise ship. The cruise is an offshoot of the Walker Stalker series of zombie and horror conventions held in cities including Boston, London and Chicago.

The Norwegian Pearl ship will host the event. It's a bit incongruous since the ship has a bubbly looking paint job, a "chic bowling alley" and a "tranquil spa." "The Walking Dead" stars Norman Reedus, Chandler Riggs, Emily Kinney and Sonequa Martin-Green are scheduled to appear for panels and autograph sessions. Other living-dead treats include a zombie makeup experience and costume contests.

What's missing is a midnight stealth zombie invasion with rotting corpses chasing terrified cruise passengers around the on-deck pools. On second thought, I can see why this isn't included.

The cruise will hold 2,200 fans. A presale is underway with prices for interior cabins starting at $750 (about £480, AU$980) per person based on double occupancy.

This whole undead-cruise concept caused me to wonder why there isn't a zombies-at-sea movie. Turns out there is at least one. It's the low-budget stinker "Zombie Driftwood" from 2010. If you haven't heard of it, that's because it garnered a mere 2.1 out of 10 rating on IMDB. That means there's still plenty of room in the genre for a "The Walking Dead" meets "Love Boat" movie. Get busy.

norwegianpearl.jpg
The Pearl will host the zombie festivities. Norwegian Cruise Line

(Via Boing Boing)